Autographic register



June 24, 1930. A. B. COOKE 1,767,784

AUTOGRAPHIC REGI STER Filed Oct. 27, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l fizz/197a???ALLE B. Coo/ 5 wag June 24, 1930. A. B. COOKE 1,767,784

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER Filed 00%.. 27, 1926 2 SheetsSheet 2 f-5 52 H a r.7 ,//a 3/ Z/ fizz/6722275 AL EN B. Coo/r5.

Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLEN IB. COOKE, OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITEDAUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER Application filed October 27, 1926. SerialNo. 144,610.

My present invention relates to autographic registers, and has moreparticular reference to means, employed in connection with the deliverymechanism of such devices for detaching and separating the tickets ordelivered portion of the strip or strips from the remainder thereof. Thestructure for convenience, is herein illustrated in connection with .anautographic register having a feed and starter mechanism such asdisposed in my co-pending application for Letters Patent of the UnitedStates that was filed September 14:, 1926, Serial No. 135,453.

The present structure provides a divider and clamp, the latter adaptedto engage the web or webs beyond the feed mechanism after the latterhaveceased to advance the material. There may be provided in the presentstructure a gripper device that will take hold of the material when thelatter is engaged by the clamps and by a pulling action will detach thedelivered portions of the strip thus detaching the used ticket ortickets from the remainder of the webs. It will be understood in thisconnection that the tickets may be perforated prior to the passingthrough the register, or the register may be provided with suitablemechanism for perforating or scoring the strips at the time ofdetachment of the delivered tickets, or a knife edge may be utilized andthe strip material pulled against the same to sever the deliveredtickets.

In my present structure I have provided a novel means for detaching thedelivered ticket or tickets that is positive in operation and does nothave a tendency to tear the material other than at the places itisintended to detach the tickets. Other objects reside in the provisionof a mechanism of above character that is novel in the form and thearrangement of the parts, is simple in construction, is dependableinperforming the functions it may be required to perform, and

, which is economical to manufacture. I prefer to accomplish the severalobjects and to carry out my invention in substantially the mannerhereinafter described and as more particularly pointed out in theclaims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a parthereof.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal side elevation of the feedand delivery portion of an autograpliic register and view from theactuat ing side thereof.

Figure 2 is a top plan of the structure illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line 3-3 of Figure2, looking in the direction of the arrows. The parts in this view beingat the initial or the starting position.

Figures 4 and 5 are schematic views showing steps in the cycle ofoperation succeeding the position shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary View in eleva %ion of the side opposite thatshowns in Figure 7 is a schematic view of a portion of a paper web orstrip such as employed in devices of this character.

Figure 8 is a view in longitudinal elevation of one of the members forgrasping and pulling the strip, the member being detached from theregister.

The drawings are, in a sense merely schematic for the purpose ofillustrating the typical embodiment of the invention, it of course beingobvious, that modifications of the structure shown may be made withoutdeparting from the principles disclosed in the drawings the same partshave been designated by similar reference characters wherever theyappear throughout the views.

The webs of material used in autographic registers of this charactereach consisting of a strip 10 (Fig. 7 that isprovided with spacedparallel rows of apertures or filing pin holes 11 that are preferably,arranged in pairs between the successive tickets that are printed on thestrip, and, as will hereinafter more full appear, apertures are utilizedby parts 0 the apparatus to control the advancement of the strip, and,also to register the superposed tickets, as well as for the purpose offiling and storing the delivered tickets. The strips are placed in themachine either in roll or pad form and may be ily detach the ticketssuccessively from the stri or strips.

he casing of. the register is of the usual type, consisting ofvertically disposed longitudinal side-walls 13 that arlse from theopposite longitudinal edges of the base, and the upper portions of theside-walls are connected by a writing bed or platen 14 of sultablelength. The mechanism for controlling the advancement of the webs orstrip ma-.

terial is similar to that disclosed in the beforesaid application,Serial No. 135,452, and consists of upper and lower feed roller shafts15 and 16 the upper of which is journaled in a lift-frame 17 hinged toears 18 on the upper portion of a casing wall, which frame and shaft israised to permit threading or loading of the strip material into theregister,"and the lower shaft 16 is journaled in the casing walls. Belowthese feed shafts there is a drive shaft 19 that is journaled in thewalls and one end is extended through the wall with a crank or handle 20secured to it. A gear 21 is secured to the drive shaft next the crankhandle, which gear 1s m mesh with an idle gear 22 mounted on a studprojecting from the casing wall and said idle gearmeshes with and drivesa pinion 23 on the adjacent end of lower feed shaft 16. Also on feedshaft 16 alongside pinion 23 there is a gear 24 that meshes with asmaller gear 25 on the end of upper feed shaft 15 so that the latterrotates faster than the former, and consequently the elements on theupper feed shaft will revolve a greater number of times than those onlower feed shaft 16. The proportions of the gears in this gear-train aresuch that feed-shaft 16 revolves faster than drive shaft 19.

r The feed shafts l5 and 16 are components of the upper and loweropposing feed members that both normally and initially advance the stripor strips of material through the register. The normal feed rollermembers comprise complete disks 26 and 27 secured respectively to shafts15 and 16, said disks being spaced apart upon the shafts a distancecorresponding to the space between a pair of filing apertures 11 in thestrips and are of less thickness than the diameter of a strip apertureso as to arrest the advancement of the strip whenever a set of aperturescomes into registration with the opposing sets of disks. This arrestingtakes place at the end of such set of tickets fed through the machine sothat the normal advancement and the initial advancement take placeintermittently. The. diameter of the upper and lower feed roller members26 and 27 differ from each other in the same ratio as the differences indiameter of the gears 25 and 24-which will permit the roller members tofeed the strips uniformly when engaging the latter outside theapertures.

en the feed members have become registered with the filing apertures 11in the stripssaid members become inactive or inoperative to advance saidstrips until the latter have been moved slightly ahead by the starterdevices or initial feed elements. Projecting radially from the feedshafts 15 and 16, and preferably formed integrally with the shaftsbetween the disks 26 and 27 are lateral upper and lower lugs or blocks28 and 29 respectively that comprise the starter or initial feeddevices. These lu s or blocks have their concentric outer aces curvedupon the same radial diameter as those of the feed roller members 26 and27, and they respectively project from the shafts the same distance assaid members.

The rotational movement of the feed-shafts 15 and 16 are timed so thatthe. respective lugs or blocks 28 and 29 will be opposite or engagingeach other but once during a plurality of revolutions. This will be atabout the same time the feed roller members come into registry with thestrip apertures, and for convenience the upper shaft 15 is revolvedeight times to five revolutions of the lower shaft 16. The opposingfaces, that is the outer surfaces, of the blocks 28 and 29 come intoopposition to each other at the time of the advancement of the paperstrips is stopped by the disks registering or alining with the stripapertures, so that when the crank isrotated after the next transactionthe blocks will engage the strips, giving them their initial movementuntil the disks are out of the strip apertures and then the diskscontinue the advancement until the succeeding pair of strip apertures isreached.

The crank handle 20 is adapted to be rotated twice during theadvancement of a. single set of tickets and is provided with a handgrasp that has connected to it a retractable plunger 30 adapted toengage the stop 31 projecting laterally from the side of the idle gear32 that is rotated by the drive or feed mechanism. Mounted in the casingwalls, one above the other, are the gripper shafts 33 and 34, thelowerof which (34) extends outside the casing wall and is provided witha gear 35 meshing with the idle gear 32 and actuated by a pinion 36 onthe spindle of the idle gear 22. The ratio of movement of the gearsactuating the gripper shaft 34 is two to one so that the gripper isrotated once during each cycle of operation at two rotations of thecrank handle. The ends of the gripper shafts 33 and 34 opposite thedriving side of the register are connected cars 35 and 3.6,respectively, that are of t e same size and actuate the shafts in 0posite directions and in unison, and each s aft, intermediate the casingwall is provided with a flange or rib 37 and 38 that extendslongitudinally of the shafts in reverse spiral or oblique directions.When the shafts are rotated in the directions indicated, the outer edgesof the ribs or flanges 37 and 38 come together'and are adapted to gripthe paper or strip'material between their contracting portions and pullthe same in a substantially longitudinal direction. Due to the fact thatthe ribs or flanges 37 and 38 are spirally disposed their points ofcontact'will vary as the shafts 33 and 34 rotate so that the pull isprogressive from one edge of the paper strip to the other, and thus theribs or flanges exert a slightly oblique pull to insure the tearing orsevering of the delivered portion of the material from the remainderthereof. The timing of the gripper shafts is such that they do notengage with the paper until the advance- 1 ment of the latter has beenarrested. It

should be noted here that the paper has been advanced so that a completeticket or set of tickets is projected beyond the feed mechanism so thatthe gripper ribs orflanges 37 and 38 Will take hold of the discharge orprojective portion of the paper slightly in front of the transverse line12 where it is to be severed or torn. The severing may be done by thegrippers pulling the paper over a blade or there may be perforationsmade in the paper at the place where it is to be separated.

Slightly in advance of or beyond the grippers the casing is dividedtransversely by an irregular wall 39, the upper edge of which curvestoward the grippers and feed mechanism as indicated at 40 in Fig. 3 andthere are openings 41 in the opposite walls of the register casing. Whenthe material feeds through the register the upper strip a passes intothe storage or filing compartment in the casing beyond the wall 39 whilethe strip or strips 3) pass downwardly on the opposite side of the wallwhere they may be readily reached for removal through the openings 41 inthe side-walls. Between the grippers and feed rollers means may beprovided to clamp and hold. the strips while they are being operated onby the grippers. This mechanism comprises a stationary bar 42 extendinghorizontally across the register below which there is a divider plate 43that is yieldably connected to the bar by sprmg plungers 44 at oppositeends of the latter. These plungers normally maintain the d1- vider awayfrom and below bar 42 and the upper strip or strips of material that areto be let into the storage or filing compartment pass over the samebetween said plungers, while the lower strip or strips pass below thedivider '43. Below the. lower strips there is a presser bar 45 that isguided in vertical slots 46 in the register walls and is placed uponedge in alinement with the stationary bar 42, so that the lower strip orstrips 6 are between the divider and the upper edge of the presser bar45. The presser bar is raised and lowered by means of a cam or cams 47on a cam-shaft journaled in the registerwalls and said camshaft isactuated. by a gear 49 mounted, thereon that is driven by a pinion 50upon \the actuating or drive-shaft 19. The edge of the cam 47 engagesthe lower edge of and supports the presser-bar and when said cam is onthe upper side of the cam-shaft it will have moved the presser-barupwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5. On this position the lowerstrip or stri s are between the presser-bar and the dlvider and thelatter has moved upwardly to the stationary bar 42 and clamps the upperstrip or strips therebetween. It will be understood that this actiontakes place when the advancement of the strips has been arrested andprior the time the paper is engaged by the grippers to tear thedisengaged or delivered tickets, and of course the cam-shaft is timed soas to rotate a single revolution during each operation of the register.

What I claim is 1. In an autographic register including a platen, feeddevices for advancing a paper strip across said platen, and means forengaging the portion of the strip advanced past said feed devices andadapted to exert a pull upon the strip progressively. from one side tothe other whereby to detach the delivered portion of the strip.

2. In an autographic register including a platen, feed devices foradvancing a paper strip across said platen, a clamping member movabletransverse to the path of movement of the strip and located beyond saidfeed devices, and means for engaging the portion of the strip advancedpast said feed devices and adapted to exert a pull upon the stripprogressively from one side to the other and against the action of saidclamping member whereby to detach the delivered portion from theremainder of the strip.

3. In an autographic register including a platen, feed devices foradvancing a plurality of paper strips across said platen, a divider forguiding a strip or strips, and means for engaging the portion of all ofthe strips advanced past said divider and adapted to exert a pullupon'the strips progressively from the edges at one side of the stripsto the other edges of the strips whereby to detach the deliveredportions of said strips.

4. In an autographic register including a platen, feed devices foradvancing a plurality of paper strips across said platen, a

clamping structure movable transverse to the'path oi movement of saidstrip and located be 0nd said feed devices, said structure having adivider for guiding a str1p or strips in a direction away from theremaining strip or strips and means for engagm the portions of al of thestrips advance beyond said clamping structure and adapted to exert apull upon the strips progressively from the edges at one side of thestrips to the other edges of the strips whereby to detach the deliveredportions of said strips.

5. In an autographic register including a platen, feed devices foradvancing a paper strip across said platen, and an 0 posmg pair ofhorizontally disposed spiral e ements adapted to eng e and exert asubstantially longitudinal ul upon the portion of the stri deliveredbeyond said feed devices, said puli being applied progressively from oneside towards the other side of the strip whereby to detach the deliveredportion of the strip.

6. In an autographic register including a platen, means for advancing astrip across said platen, means for clam ing the portion of the stripbeyond the a vancing means,

I and means beyond the clampin means for pulling substantiallylongitudinally upon the strip and progressively from side to side of thestrip to detach the advancedportion of the strip.

7. In an autographic register including a platen means for advancing astrip across said platen, means for clamping the portion of the stripbeyond the advancing means, J

and a pair of opposing horizontally disposed spiral elements adapted toengage the strip progressively from side to side and pull the deliveredportion of the strip substantially longitudinally whereby to detach thedelivered portionof the strip.

, 8. In an autographic register including a platen means for advancing astrip across said platen, a clamp adapted to engage the strip afteradvancement, horizontal rotatable spindles between which the deliveredportion of the strip is positioned, and spiral ribs on said spindlesadapted to intermittently oppose each other whereby to engage thedelivered portion of the strip progressively .from side to side andexert a substantially longitudinal pull thereon whereby to detach itfrom the remainder thereof.

9. The combination with the strip delivery mechanism of an autographicregister, of devices actuated by said delivery mechanism adapted tograsp the strip progressively from side to Sid (hereof and pull thedelivered portion of the strip in a substantially longitudinal directionto detach the same from the remainder of the strip.

- 10. The combination with the strip delivery mechanism of anautographic register, of devices for clamping the delivered poradvancingthe strip and sto ping said stripwith a weakened line be on said means,of gripping devices ada te to engage the strip beyond the weakenelineand exert a longitudinal pull thereon progressively from side toside of the strip whereby to detach the thus engaged portion of thestrip.

12; In an apparatus for operating u on a paper strip that is providedwith'- ongitudinally spaced transversely disposed weakened lines, thecombination with means for advancing the strip and stopping said stripwith a weakened lme beyond said means, of rotatable spirally positionedgripping members that en age the advanced portion of the strip beyondthe weakened line and exert a progressive pull thereon whereby to detachthe advanced portion of the strip.

13. In an autographic register employing strip material having spacedtransversely disposed weakened lines, means for advancing the materialuntil a weakened line has passed said means, devices for holding thematerial back of said line, and means for gripping the material be 0ndsaid line and exerting a pull progressively from side to side of thematerial to detach the advanced portion thereof.

Signed at Danville, in the county of Vermilion, and State of Illinois,this 23d day of September, 1926.

ALLEN B. COOKE.

